ARTIST’S STATEMENT

I am an Abstract Expressionist, intent on mark-making and exploring the relationship between colors and marks until I find each painting. My work is primarily alla prima and gestural compared to a planned-out drawing. The flow of the painting takes several mark-making/ exploratory sessions; however, I generally like to engage with a painting on day one until I am happy with its direction. Day one is my favorite day; leaving the studio on day one is the best feeling, seeing the promise of possibility in a new work I have created.

My landscape art derives mainly from time spent on our property in Tennessee, where my studio is located and where I fell in love with trees. Some of my landscape art is inspired by travel. I particularly like the Rocky Mountains in the United States and the coastal views of Ireland’s West Cork.

My Abstract works are purely gestural; they originate from spontaneous movements, what I feel then, usually over several studio sessions. I like to pick my palette and let the work evolve from there. My work tends to be textural, with thick paint in areas that draw me back to them several times.

Many of my works stay with me for several years before they are finished. I tend to view them as true old friends, non-disposable, precious. There is a melancholy satisfaction to finishing a painting and knowing it will be shared in an exhibit and perhaps acquired by a collector.

  Myra Porter